No IPL matches in drought-hit Maharashtra

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Maharashtra Cricket Association for a stay on Bombay High Court’s order to shift IPL matches from drought-affected Maharashtra — in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur — after April 30.

The Bombay High Court had allowed BCCI to hold the game between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants in Pune on May 1 — an exception as there was not enough time to shift to a different venue.

Post May 1, the BCCI will have to organise 12 IPL matches at alternate venues. Matches scheduled to be held in Nagpur will be moved to Dharamshala, Mumbai matches to Jaipur and Pune games to Visakhapatnam. However, there could be a problem in having the matches in Jaipur for the same reason. The Rajasthan High Court, responding to a PIL on drought in the state, has asked the state government to respond by April 30.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said the BCCI was already in the process of implementing the Bombay High Court order. “It was the state cricket associations who appealed in the Supreme Court as they were the affected parties,” he said. The move is also expected to hurt the team’s finances. The Mumbai team is expected to lose the most from ticket revenues as they have the most number of corporate boxes among all IPL stadiums. According to media sources, the team gets around Rs 3-4 crore per match from ticket sales, including selling corporate boxes.

The BCCI counsel had told the Bombay High Court that it will only use treated sewage water to maintain the pitches at both Mumbai and Pune venues. It had also offered to donate Rs 5 crore to the CM’s drought relief fund and had said that it was willing to transport as much water it is using for the grounds to drought affected areas in the state.